Published: Sunday, March 9, 2014 at 6:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Saturday, March 8, 2014 at 9:37 p.m.

It's safe to say that few people across Marion County know Christopher Newton, know what he does for a living, and know why he no longer does it here.

But Newton's story, at least as related in his resignation letter, is indicative of a trend that troubles senior county officials, whose response could hold far-reaching implications in trying to balance public safety and public spending.

Newton resigned from Marion County Fire Rescue last week after 5½ years with the department. Certified as both a firefighter and a paramedic, Newton announced that he would now ply his trade in Orange County.

“This career decision to separate from Marion County was not an easy one for me to make,” wrote Newton, who expressed regret that he was leaving a “well-oiled machine” whose training and teamwork had helped him blossom into not “just a firefighter” but rather “a great firefighter.”

Newton noted that he had been contemplating a change for some time but had not seriously pursued it.

“I always thought to myself that the experience and time on I have with the county outweighed any sort of pay I would receive anywhere else, and the camaraderie amongst the firefighters here would be unrivaled,” he wrote.

Then, he appraised his personal financial situation — and the fact that, despite starting over with a new agency, he could still make almost $10,000 more a year in Orange County.

“Over the years with Marion County I have been making less and less money. It is now to a point that I am forced out of the door because of the pay,” Newton wrote. “As difficult as it is to leave my skilled, stand together crew, I have to.”

Veteran firefighters like Newton have increasingly left Marion County over the past two years, and the departures have Fire Rescue leaders searching for ways to stem the outflow.

From fiscal year 2009, when the county took over the countywide ambulance operation, thus merging the fire and emergency medical services, through fiscal year 2011, a total of 45 firefighters who were also certified as paramedics left the department, a county report shows.

That's excluding retirements.

During fiscal years 2012 and 2013, the total number of resignations jumped to 68, according to the report.

What concerns county Fire Chief Stuart McElhaney is not just that the yearly separation rate doubled over the past two years, but how many years those more recent departures firefighters had logged with the department.

From 2009 through 2011, those who left had worked for the county for an average of 3.1 years. Since then the average tenure of those who leave has risen to six years, the report indicates.

“That's the thing we've never seen before,” McElhaney said in a recent interview.

McElhaney has said it's not easy to pinpoint what's behind the spike in departures by longtime firefighters, which he discussed at a recent County Commission workshop. Many of those who leave, unlike Newton, do not share what led them to resign.

The anecdotal evidence, however, suggests that money is a critical concern, the chief said in the interview.

“We attracted people from all over the state because for a long time we were the only one hiring,” McElhaney said. “I think it's becoming clear they're leaving primarily because other departments are starting to hire now, and with retirements, that's opening up the positions.”

He discounted the notion that Marion County has become a feeder agency for other Florida fire departments.

McElhaney noted that the greater seniority among the more recent resignations reflects that those firefighters are now “fairly marketable” because of their experience and training.

Lt. Rob Graff, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 3169, said in an interview that he could identify when the shift in tenure occurred.

In March 2011 the union agreed to a six-month pay freeze to help the county save about $1.1 million through the end of that fiscal year.

Nine months later, the union conceded to a longer wage freeze: a three-year deal that meant no raises until at least the end of September 2014, when the current contract expires.

Although the administration and the union began discussing a new contract last week, many county firefighters have been simply waiting for a chance to go elsewhere, particularly to a bigger department where they can plan a long-term career path with better compensation, Graff said.

“They can see for another year they're not going to get another raise,” he said of the existing contract.

Those who go, like Newton, must start at the bottom of the seniority ladder in a new job. But the personal cost for leaving is not as great as in other fields.

Because of a firefighter's schedule — typically work for 24 hours and take 48 hours off — they can still live here and commute long distances to areas like Tampa or Orlando, remaining unaffected by the higher cost of living.

And most counties, especially larger ones, are members of the Florida Retirement System, which means they don't sacrifice any pension benefits by switching employers.

“They're not out anything,” Graff said.

The issue has started to affect recruitment as well, Graff added. Since the start of this fiscal year in October, just nine of the roughly 60 firefighters who were offered jobs accepted them, he said.

“We can hardly pay people to come here,” Graff said.

For at least a decade McElhaney has mandated that firefighters become certified as paramedics. In that regard, the county followed a national trend.

But the decision also reflected the nature of the business. Overwhelmingly, the county fire department responds to medical emergency calls — perhaps 80 percent of its total workload.

McElhaney told the County Commission that the volume of those calls was rising, enough to support the addition of at least two new ambulances and accompanying crews, while fire calls have remained relatively constant.

One result has been lengthening response times — up about a minute between 2011 and 2013.

Yet the loss of seasoned firefighters has been more acute among those who work as paramedics on the ambulance side, and that has raised concern outside the department.

The medical community, McElhaney said, appears to be bothered by the drain in experience.

“It doesn't mean they aren't good people, or trained people. It means they haven't seen as much,” the chief said. “These are invasive treatments, and providing drugs and doing things that can hurt people if we make a mistake. That's why we're all worried.”

Graff agreed, saying the turnover means the county “is constantly training new people.”

“It's not a crisis,” the union leader said, “but if it's not addressed, it could become that way.”

Therein lies the challenge.

McElhaney said a secondary reason some firefighters have left is because another job has opened up in another part of the state where they once resided, or have family. So, they seize an opportunity to go home, he said.

To battle that impulse, the chief wants to a revive a program that launched more than a decade ago but fizzled during the recession.

It was a partnership between the county, the school system and the College of Central Florida to recruit local high school seniors for the emergency medical technician program as a path to being hired by the fire department.

More immediately, though, is solving the dilemma with current firefighters, McElhaney said.

It will likely take additional money; the question is how much. And the work on that has already begun, as senior department staff contact fire chiefs and officers in other agencies to see what their employees are earning.

“There is a gap in funding that cannot be overcome with some of these softer things,” the chief said.

“What we're trying to find out is what is that threshold that would make somebody want to stay.”

The union president concurred that the county could find a salary level that would make leaving Marion less attractive financially.

Graff, however, questions if the political will can be summoned to find a fix. The union, he said, thinks McElhaney has solid data that will show how the increased workload has outpaced salaries, especially since they've remained stagnant for three years.

Graff pointed out that in 2011, in approving the 2012 budget, the board voted to cut the property tax that helps fund the fire department. The union maintained that the cut would save the average homeowner just 68 cents a year.

Graff questions whether that cut was worth it, as the union had warned — since, according to the county Human Resources Department, it costs almost $14,400 to train and equip a firefighter through the completion of paramedic training.

“That's part of the frustrations that we have. You can pay now or pay later,” Graff said.

“The commission has a hard decision on what type of service they want to provide. If they're going to reduce the level of service, they should get out on a podium and tell people that's what they're doing rather than just letting it happen.”

Contact Bill Thompson at 867-4117 or bill.thompson@ocala.com.

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